The present invention relates to a unitized package for a stack of insulation containing packages, and, in particular, to a unitized package for a stack of insulation containing packages which has a band adjacent to a base of the unitized package to facilitate the pulling of the unitized package over a horizontal surface, such as but not limited to the cargo bed of a truck.
Insulation containing packages, such as packages of glass fiber blowing wool or other forms of loose blown insulation, batts of glass fiber or other insulation materials, and rolls of glass fiber or other insulation materials, are spirally wrapped in sheets of stretch wrap film to form unitized packages for storage and shipment to job sites. These unitized packages typically weigh from about 90 pounds to about 1600 pounds, have a height from about 45 inches to about 108 inches, a width from about 33 inches to about 57 inches, and a length from about 37 inches to about 57 inches.
Do to their size and weight, these unitized packages are not easily moved about by hand and it generally requires the efforts of two or more workmen to move or unload these unitized packages from a cargo bed by hand. In addition, moving these unitized packages by hand is time consuming and, if the unitized packages are not properly handled, there is a risk of strain or other injury to the workmen. Generally, the size and weight of the unitized packages does not present a problem in warehouses or on loading docks where clamp and/or fork lift trucks can be used to move the unitized packages about the warehouse and to load the unitized packages into or unload the unitized packages from a truck. However, at job sites or other locations where loading docks and/or clamp trucks are not available and the unitized packages must be moved by hand, the unitized package does pose a handling problem. Thus, there has been a need to facilitate the handling these heavy and bulky unitized packages and, especially, the unloading of these heavy and bulky unitized packages from trucks, at locations where a clamp truck or similar equipment is not available or can not be driven into the truck, to reduce the amount of time and manpower required to handle the unitized packages and to reduce the chance of injury due to the mishandling of the unitized packages.
The unitized package of the present invention solves the problems currently encountered when handling unitized packages by providing a unitized package that can be easily moved or unloaded from the cargo bed of a truck, without the need for a clamp truck or loading dock, by securing a line such as a rope, strap or cable to a loop formed adjacent the bottom of the unitized package and pulling the unitized package across a floor or cargo bed with a fork lift truck, winch, or similar pulling means.
The unitized package of the present invention contains a stack of insulation containing packages, e.g. thirteen layers of packages with three packages to a layer. The insulation within the packages is typically a conventional building insulation, such as but not limited to glass fiber building insulation. For example, the packages within the unitized package may contain glass fiber blowing wool or other loose fill insulation, batts of insulation (such as but not limited to batts of glass fiber insulation), or rolls of insulation (such as but not limited to rolls of glass fiber insulation). The unitized packages of the present invention are heavy and bulky and typically weigh from about 90 pounds to about 1600 pounds, have a height from about 45 inches to about 108 inches, a width from about 33 inches to about 57 inches, and a length from about 37 inches to about 57 inches.
The unitized package is formed by a sheet of stretch wrap film that is spirally wrapped about the sides and at least partially overlays the upper and lower surfaces of the stack of insulation containing packages to hold the stack of packages together as a packaged unit. The unitized package has a band adjacent the base of the unitized package which forms a loop adjacent one side of the unitized package to which a rope or other pulling means can be secured to pull the unitized package over a horizontal surface, such as a warehouse floor or truck cargo bed. Preferably, the band is formed of a plurality of additional wraps of the sheet of stretch wrap film which are wrapped about the sides of the unitized package adjacent the base of the unitized package and overlay each other. The loop formed by the band has a tensile strength adapted to be less than the tensile strength of a rope, strap or other pulling means to be connected to the loop whereby the loop will fail prior to the rope or other pulling means connected to the loop to prevent the rope or other pulling means from snapping when pulling the unitized package across a floor or cargo bed. By locating the loop adjacent the base of the unitized package, the unitized package can be pulled across a floor or cargo bed without reducing the stability of the unitized package and tipping unitized package over.
The unitized package of the present invention may also have a tray or layer of sheet material, such as but not limited to a paperboard tray or sheet, located intermediate the lower surface of the stack of insulation containing packages and the portion of the sheet of stretch wrap film overlaying the lower surface of stack of insulation containing packages to protect the packages from abrasion when being pulled across a floor or cargo bed.